


To good choices!

by Thorinsmut



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Awkward Flirting, M/M, and i want them to be happy, minor alcohol and alcoholism mentions, set aside the dr/patient relationship, these two are good beans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-24
Updated: 2019-04-24
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:34:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24241408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thorinsmut/pseuds/Thorinsmut
Summary: Harvey was happy for Shane. It was a benefit of being a small town doctor, that he got such a personal relationship with his patients. A drawback, as well, that being the doctor to the whole town made it more difficult to build closer friendships.
Relationships: Harvey/Shane (Stardew Valley)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 48





	To good choices!

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hobbitdragon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hobbitdragon/gifts).



> Originally posted at:  
> https://thorinsmut.tumblr.com/post/184417917393/

Shane looked better, these days, Harvey was happy to notice.

He didn’t shave any more often—less, even, since the JojaMart closed. He didn’t dress any sharper—still the same comfortable clothes, and even dustier for farm work these days. It wasn’t those superficial ways that Shane looked better. It was in the confident way he held himself, the brightness in his eyes, the fact that he actually made _eye contact_ with people.

Harvey was happy for him. It was a benefit of being a small town doctor, that he got such a personal relationship with his patients. A drawback, as well, that being the doctor to the whole town made it more difficult to build closer friendships.

Harvey shared polite smiles and nods with a few of the regulars at the Stardrop Saloon—Shane included—before he made for his usual spot at the bar. His Sunday nights were always the same.

“Welcome!” Gus said, grinning at him as he shined a wine glass. “I’ve got a new local red for you to try. Earthy, but well balanced. I think you’ll like it.”

“That sounds very nice.” Harvey was rarely disappointed by Gus’s recommendations, and watched eagerly as Emily poured his glass. “And what’s the house salad, today?”

“You’ll like it. Local wildcrafted leeks and fresh shaved truffle. It should pair well.”

“That does sound good!” Shane had abandoned his own regular corner to instead take the seat beside Harvey’s. “Make that two salads, and put the doc’s order on my tab.”

Emily handed Harvey his glass of wine before he could properly formulate a response, and he didn’t have a space to after he’d finished thanking her, either, because she’d practically pounced on Shane. “Hey, before I forget! We just got in a bunch of fun seltzers. There’s this sour-apple one that’s _sooo_ good. You have to try it!”

“Sure.” Shane threw back the last of his drink and handed his glass toward her. “Hit me up!”

Harvey felt a bit self-conscious swirling his wine to breathe the scent before he took a sip, beside someone who was making such an effort to go dry. “My one weekly glass,” he said, awkwardly.

“No judgment here. Nothing wrong if you can do it in a healthy way,” Shane said, losing his sparkle in exactly the way Harvey had hoped to avoid. He brightened up again quickly, though, as Emily handed him a fresh glass of seltzer. “Me, I’m working on becoming a connoisseur of sparkling waters.”

“To good choices,” Harvey toasted, raising his glass, and Shane clinked glasses with him. Gus delivered their salads, and they ate their very delicious salads in uncomfortable silence for a few minutes before Harvey could think of a topic of conversation. “How are things at the farm?” he asked. “Jas mentioned you have blue hens?”

He knew, immediately, that it had been the right thing to say. Smile lines crinkled around Shane’s eyes as he went into raptures about his ‘ladies’; their health and their antics and the richness of their eggs with yolks like rose gold.

Gus briefly leaned into the conversation to back up Shane’s claims about his eggs being the best in the valley—seeing as he was buying two dozen a week for the Monday special.

All in all, it was a very enjoyable evening. When Harvey had finished his wine, Shane urged him to try his favorite grapefruit seltzer. It was a good balance between tart and bitter, and Harvey could see why it would be a favorite of someone kicking a beer habit.

Shane was beautiful, in a way, in his animation. The tone of his skin was lightly sun-tanned, now, rather than pale and jaundiced. The flush on his cheeks was the healthy pink of excitement. More than that, though. More than simply being happy for his health as his doctor, Harvey was happy to see him looking _well_. Shane was working hard, and thriving. He was actually fun to talk to, now he wasn’t closed off and sullen, and Harvey would hardly have guessed it just a year earlier.

When Harvey was done, Shane paid and left the Stardrop Saloon with him—walking him the short distance home.

“Thank you, for tonight,” Harvey said. “You didn’t have to.”

“It’s the least I can do.” Shane rubbed the back of his neck, ducking his head a bit. “I owe you a lot. For helping me out, hooking me up with therapy…. not spreading my business around town.”

“I _wouldn’t_ ,” Harvey protested. “I would never breach patient privacy, legal issues aside. And as your doctor, I’m glad I was able to help. That’s my job.”

“Yeah,” Shane said, quietly, inflection flat. “…yeah. Your job.”

Oh dear, it had come out all wrong. Harvey reached out, breaching the distance between them to touch Shane’s shoulder. His hoodie was very soft, he could see why Shane liked to wear it so much, and thin enough he could feel Shane’s body heat through it. “Let’s set aside our doctor-patient relationship,” he said. “As a friend, I’m so happy for you.” He could feel his face heating, and quickly dropped his hand, hoping the dark of the nighttime would hide the worst of his blush. “That is, if friends is what we are. I wouldn’t presume.”

Shane was smiling, though, and bumped his elbow against Harvey’s. “Friends.” he said, mercifully breaking Harvey off. “You’ve got yourself to thank for that, too. John—the therapist you set me up with—he recommended 'cultivating genuine connections’ with people I admire. I’d convinced myself so long you wouldn’t give me the time of day, but you’re actually a pretty cool guy.”

“Oh.” Harvey’s blush certainly wasn’t receding any for being told that Shane _admired_ him, and thought he was _cool_.

“Well, here’s your place.” Shane stopped in front of Harvey’s door, waiting while he fished around in his pockets for his key. “Hey, do you want eggs? I could bring some by tomorrow. The ladies are laying so many right now I don’t know what to do with them all.”

“That’s… um… very kind of you?” Harvey sorted through his keychain. “I hate to admit this, but I’m not much of a cook. The last time I bought eggs they sat unused for six months. I wouldn’t want your chickens’ hard work to go to waste.”

Shane only brightened further, as though Harvey’s awkward refusal was a good thing. “Then you should come over for dinner at the farm, instead! Marnie’s been teaching me to cook, and I’m sure she wouldn’t mind another set of helping hands. I wanted to be able to cook for Jas, not just rely on processed shit. It’s really fun, though. I wasn’t expecting how _good_ it feels to turn raw ingredients into something delicious.”

“I’m afraid I’ll make a fool of myself, but—” Looking at Shane’s hopeful expression, Harvey didn’t have the heart to turn him down. “I’d love to.”

Shane smiled, beautiful in the soft glow of the clinic’s porch light. “It’s a date.”

“Yes,” the word fell thoughtlessly from Harvey’s mouth. “A date. Yes.” And if _he_ could see Shane’s face, then certainly Shane was going to be able to see his—and how flushed and flustered he was and realize that he was thinking about it as a _date_ -date and not just a friend date, when on second thought the second meaning was probably what Shane had meant.

“Yeah.” Shane tossed his sleek hair back, smile not fading in the slightest. He stepped closer, and lightly stroked his hand down Harvey’s arm, a gesture far too intimate in context to feel platonic. “Good night, Harvey,” he said, softly, and walked into the dark with a confident stride.

Harvey fumbled the key twice before he managed to unlock the clinic. He sagged against the door once he was inside, laughing breathlessly, hand to his pounding heart.

Maybe, just _maybe_ , he’d stumbled into the possibility of the kind of close relationship he craved.


End file.
